Tuesday, December 14, 2010

December 14th, 2010

I. AM. TIRED.

My life has gotten extensively more stressful these last few months. My sister and her two children moved in with us and I have been her full time daycare since July. Not only do I care for her kids when she is not here, she also lives here so they never really leave.

I love my sister but I wonder how much longer I can do this.

Any Advice?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

12.9.2010

Today was a good day. Besides me sort of yelling at a crabby old lady at Walmart today, it was a good day. You are probably wondering about the old lady. Well, Sean and I were leaving Walmart and Lucas and Grace were walking. I stopped by the vending machine to get a soda and Sean, confused with what was going on, lost track of Lucas. Lucas was upset about not getting a cookie and walked through the doors and headed into the parking lot. I think that he thought that we were with him. Panicked, I yelled at Lucas to stop. This really crabby lady behind said "Geez!" really loudly. When I turned around she gave me the dirtiest look I have ever seen. I snapped back "Excuse me but my son was walking into the parking lot." Now I am not one to yell at people, even when they are really rude to me. I normally just try and shrug it off. But not this time.

I guess I am tired of people looking at me like I am some young mother who doesn't take control of her kids. I am a good person who loves her children and try as hard as I can to serve. I had money for the kids to donate to the Salvation Army ringer right outside Walmart. We were headed to the Post Office so I could send off my 12 inches of cut hair to Locks of Love. I do great things but I think that people take just one instance and judge me from it. In hindsight I probably didn't do the Christlike thing but I am learning that I do need to stick up for myself and people don't have a right to treat me that way. 

Aside from that bad experience today was good. We decided to take an impromptu trip to the Mall of America and have the kids visit Nickelodeon Universe to ride some rides. They LOVED it. I guess it is a good thing that Lucas is freakishly tall because he got to ride some rides that kids his age don't get to. He really love the Splat-O-Sphere, a ride that takes you up and drops you and the Pepsi Ride, which is an actual roller coaster. Oh, did the three kiddos love it.

Isaac did the cutest thing today. Grace is shorter then the boys so didn't get to ride on some of the rides. I had Grace propped up on my knee and was holding Isaac in my arms so they could both see the riders. Grace was crying and Isaac, concerned, kept tapping Grace on the shoulder and then leaning forward to see her. When she would look at him, he would break out into a big smile. I couldn't believe that my one year old was showing compassion on his cousin. He is such a sweet spirit and it today it really showed. He had so much fun watching the kids ride the rides. What a amazing little guy.

Here are some pictures of our adventure! Enjoy!

Riding the Reptormobiles!

On the Wonder Pets Fly Boat!

The only ride Isaac went on!

The Splat-O-Sphere! Lucas and James loved it!

Riding the Dragon on the Merry Go Round

Of course they rode more rides but these are just highlights!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

12.8.2010

I spent today reading all my old posts on this blog. How time flies. I captured some great moments but also a lot of memories are lost and forgotten. That makes me sad. I know that my sons will probably never care about what their first words were or when they got their first tooth or when they went to the bathroom all by themselves but I hope their wives will. Or at least, when they are all grown up and gone, I will be able to pull up this blog (hopefully one day made into a book) and reminisce. For that to happen, I need to be more diligent with writing consistently. Taking time out of my day to write on this blog. My craft blog, no problem, but this one, this one should be more important.

Today Lucas went to school. It is so nice to have a three hour break from him. I love my son but he can be a hand full. Don't let my last post fool you. Crista had the day off and she and James and Grace loaded up the car and ran over to the local laundry mat. This left the morning to just Isaac and I. It is quite nice actually. Isaac slept for most of the morning which meant that I got to sleep as well. My children religiously wake up between 6am and 7am no matter what time they went to bed or if they had a nap. It is quite frustrating actually. Sometimes I want to stay up so one would assume that if you keep your kids up then they will sleep in too. Not for my kiddos. So a nap was welcomed.

When Lucas got home I was in full swing cleaning the house. When you have a big black Newf around sweeping is a daily task. So I plopped Lucas down in front of the computer to watch a little Wonder Pets on Netflix (that right, I am that kind of mother). Lucas loves that show. He is into anything animal. Makes me think he might be a vet someday. He especially loves anything amphibian or reptile. Also bugs, Spiderman, Batman, you know, normal boy stuff. It makes shopping for Christmas presents more fun. Anyways, he knows the theme song of Wonder Pets but can only sing one line "Teamwork". So if you sing out "What's gonna work?" he will follow with "Teamwork." It is very cute. One time even, we told the kids to clean up the toys in the living room and Lucas started out singing "Teamwork" over and over. It is quite cute.

On another Lucas note, he is officially potty trained day and night. I have to say it is about time. I started around this time last year and although he has been day potty trained, it isn't until now that he is night potty trained. Sean remarked to me when we got home from the gym (Crista watched the kiddos) that we might be training a nudest because Lucas can get his clothes off but not back on. In the bathroom in a pile was his pj's and underwear. He got up from sleeping, took off his sleeper, went potty, didn't put them back on, and went to bed. I am just relieved that he wakes up, goes and gets back into bed.

Isaac has become a little climber. Always climbing up chairs, onto furniture, getting into things that he shouldn't. Lucas and Isaac actually had a minor fight over toys this morning. They were playing in their room and Lucas is willing to share his toys but only the ones that he wants to share. Isaac, not so found of that, lets his voice be known. A few weeks ago, I had given a sucker to Lucas and I don't know how he did it but Isaac, half Lucas's size, stole the sucker from Lucas. I went into the room and Isaac was sitting on the floor with a death grip on the sucker screaming at Grace and Lucas who were trying to get the sucker from him. I  couldn't help but laugh. Isaac is showing that he won't be bullied by the older kids. If you try and take a toy from him, watch out, he will let you know that he is not happy.

I am planning on applying to nursing schools again. I have until February 1st. I am really nervous about doing this, I guess being rejected 2 years ago, has taken its toll. I just hope that the right will happen.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

12.7.2010

Today has been a great day. Besides my fabulous mother-in-law coming over so I could do some much need Christmas shopping at the local thrift stores, Unique and Good Will, Isaac and Lucas have hit some major milestones too.

We recently set up the Christmas tree and although it was the one-year-old I was mostly worried about, Lucas has proven to be a contender with him. They both love to take off the ornaments, play with them and put them back. I have stopped worrying about the perfection of the tree and try to enjoy their enjoyment and love of it. Isaac is so funny, when he goes over to the tree to start tinkering with the ornaments, I go "Isaac, no no no..." To which he looks at me, smiles, shakes his head "No" and continues right on touching. You can now get him to copy you when you shake your head at him. It is quite comical and lovely, however, it just reminds me how much Isaac is growing up.

Lucas has become quite a chatter box. I seriously love LOVE the special education program he is in. Not only do they make me feel like I am to best mother in the world and that I also have the greatest son, but they have made AMAZING progress with Lucas and speech in the short amount of time that he has gone to school. I could kiss each and everyone of them. Call me crazy but I feel that I need to give back to the school. The program that Lucas is in is totally free but I am very aware of the lack of revenue that is streamed into schools. Although Sean and I have very little, I still feel this great desire to give to the school.

Monday, Lucas got off the bus with the biggest grin on his face. Clutched in his hands was a bag labeled "Ms. Courtneys Class Snack Bag". You would have thought that Lucas had won the lottery with how hard he was clutching the bag. He loves to get assignments and will carry them out with joy and happiness. As every mother dreams of the time that she gets to take her child out and let them pick snacks for school (is it just me?) we headed to Walmart this evening to do just that. When we entered Walmart Lucas promptly stated "I walk!" Being just the four of us I obliged him. He does really well on his own. He had so much fun running around the grocery part of Walmart. We picked up bananas, had to steer Lucas away from the bakery, the cupcakes were just too tempting for him. Headed over to the crackers and cookie aisle where we picked up an array of goodies. Lucas honed in on a bag of Cheetos and proceeded to carry them all around the store, he even insisted on holding the Walmart bag with the Cheetos in it until we got home. We picked up some Lysol wipes for his class because they were on his classroom "wish list" and by buying them, I feel like I am giving what little I can back to the school.

I can see his personality really coming out. He is talking more (that comes with good and bad) and interacting with kids more. As a mom you really wish that you are instilling in your child good habits, a love and charity for others, a responsibility to follow rules and obey the law (in Lucas's case, mom's law!) Those things that made me cry in the past are almost all gone. I rarely have to worry about Lucas hitting or pushing, he is using his words much more now. He is using full sentences, his Grandpa McCabe taught him how to say his whole name "Lucas Daniel Meyer". It is so funny, when you as him what mommy's name is he says "Mommy Daniel Meyer." Ahhh, we will work on that. He is just a joy to be around. I really have had a hard time connecting with Lucas. Vocabulary is such an important part of bonding when children are this age. The age of cuteness has gone and there is a need to start bonding with your child on other levels.

I am so grateful of the opportunity that Lucas has to go to a special education school. Where he gets the help that he needs. He has truly become a new little man in just a short amount of time.

Well that is my thoughts for today.